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So, how much money do you want to make?
Sounds like a dream question to get from your employer, doesn’t it?
Well, good news. When you’re a self-employed freelancer, that’s a question you need to ask yourself every year. And the great thing is, you’ll be able to earn virtually any dream salary—even if it’s in the six-figure range—if you get into the right freelancing field.
What freelance careers do high-income earners choose? Here are six of the highest paying jobs in freelancing for 2022.
With all the websites, blogs, and email marketing campaigns today, the job opportunities for freelance writers just keep growing. However, if you want to earn a six-figure income, you need to specialize in a profitable writing field.
Freelance medical writers, for example, can earn well over $100,000 writing medical articles. You can also generate multiple streams of income by writing in two or three profitable writing niches including:
Certain types of writing, like ad copy and white papers (long-form business reports), pay well with some freelancers charging over $10,000 to write a single white paper. Likewise, direct response copywriters who create marketing materials like sales video scripts and online sales pages, can earn high salaries. Search and apply for the latest remote copywriter jobs.
Do you enjoy analyzing statistics? Actuaries work with insurance companies, government agencies, and business owners to analyze the costs associated with potential risk factors. Using statistics and math, a freelance actuary estimates how much their clients will need to pay for workplace injuries, natural disasters, lawsuits etc. They then create reports and make presentations that help their clients make policy and budget decisions.
This is a highly valued profession that can pay well over six figures. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, actuary employment is also projected to grow 24 percent from 2020 to 2030, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.
Media buyers find and purchase ad space on channels that reach a company’s target audience. These channels may be digital (like YouTube or Facebook) or traditional (like TV, radio, or print).
As a freelance media buyer, you’ll negotiate with sites, networks, and other channels where your ads run. You’ll need to make sure your ads run at the optimal time to reach the most members of your target audience. And you’ll need to stay within your clients’ marketing budgets.
Good media buyers are in high demand, but they require skills in social media marketing, copywriting, and digital media marketing. Rates vary, but professional freelance media buyers working for multiple clients know how to value their time. Expect to charge well over $100 per hour if you want to start making six figures.
Web designers are responsible for creating the layout and visual appearance of a website. This requires skill in graphic art and design to create user-friendly sites that translate well across different devices (like laptops and smartphones).
Skilled web designers know how to research and test designs that gives site users a positive experience. They also need to follow their client specifications when designing the site.
With all the companies that need websites, experienced web designers are very in-demand. Those who develop expert skills and charge a good rate ($80-$100+ per hour) can make well over six figures.
Do you like building mobile apps, writing code, and designing new software systems? Then a career as a freelance software engineer may be a good fit. In addition to designing and developing software systems, you may be called upon to correct errors in existing software, retrieve data for analysis of system capabilities, or work with other analysts, engineers, and programmers to design systems.
To be a software engineer, you need to be familiar with coding and programming languages such as Python and Java. You also need to know about software testing, object-oriented design (OOD), and software development. In addition, being a detail-oriented problem solver with good communication skills is important, especially if you’ll be working with a team.
This freelance career will continue to grow in demand as more companies do business online, allowing you to charge rates ranging from $50 to $300 per hour depending on your experience. Many software engineer skills also translate well to entrepreneurship if you want to switch careers and start your own business.
If you’ve worked in an industry for several years and have a unique perspective that businesses can benefit from, you may be able to make a good living as a freelance consultant.
Consultants offer companies guidance by providing expert opinions, analysis of business issues, and recommendations based on their expertise. They may be called on to help train employees, streamline operations, and suggest new policies to build revenue and increase productivity.
Offering services in a specific niche will determine who hires you and how much you get paid. Freelance consultants in the healthcare, digital marketing, and education sectors can charge anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour (or more).
Marketing yourself as a freelance consultant requires you to establish yourself as an expert to potential clients. This might mean publishing insightful eBooks or articles on a blog or email newsletter. It might also mean hosting live events or webinars that showcase your presentation style to potential clients. And of course, once you start getting clients, you’ll want them to offer referrals and testimonials to aid in your marketing efforts.
Here’s the great thing about all these high-paying freelance jobs—the skill sets you use tend to complement each other.
For instance, lead generation specialists and media buyers both benefit from copywriting skills. A software engineer gains insights knowing how a web designer constructs the look of a website. And it’s no secret that most of these lucrative freelance careers are related to sales and marketing.
What does this mean for you? It means that <tweet-link>no matter where you are in your personal education or career path, there’s always a way to build upon your job skills—and work toward getting paid a higher salary.<tweet-link> Your writing, communication, problem solving, and research skills can all be applied toward profitable freelance work, and your experiences in any one of these jobs helps inform where you want to go next in your freelance career.
So, get out there and pursue the type of freelance work you want. Continue your education and make yourself more marketable by learning new skills. Above all, value your work and your time, knowing that as you grow in experience, you will be able set higher rates and earn that six-figure salary.
Ready to start building your freelancing education? Visit Moxie guides and Moxie Academy to get the inside look on the art of successful freelancing—and learn what to expect from the freelance industry in 2022.
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